


Fo(u)r Now, and Forever

by aintweproudriff



Series: Race, Spot, Albert, and Elmer [4]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Multi, cute and cheesy and a little sad, happy ending!, just my specialty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 11:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12011403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Prompt: Spralmer angst/fluff fic where one of them is really insecure about their place in the relationshipElmer feels left out.





	Fo(u)r Now, and Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this a sort of sequel to First Friday of the Month

It wasn’t that Elmer didn’t like the dynamic they had going, because he really did. And it certainly wasn’t that he didn’t love the boys he was dating, because he absolutely did. Really, it wasn’t that he wasn’t happy. By all accounts, he should have been over the moon. 

It was just that sometimes - more often than not, really - the relationship he was in felt a little exclusive, especially considering the whole polyamory aspect. 

He’d joined the relationship about four and a half years into its progress, so there were bound to be things he’d missed out on. All the sleepovers they’d had long before they ever met him, all the times they kissed each other before they kissed him, each minute that they spent together without him put him further and further away from his boyfriends.  
He’d known them for as long as the three boys had been dating, and had always wanted to be a part of that happiness and love. He watched them get together, at a point in his life when he didn’t understand how he could like Spot, and Race, and Albert. Seeing them find each other, it was like sunglasses being pulled away from his eyes.  
It didn’t get much better, though, not when he went from wanting to be with one of them to be with all three of them at the same time. Now that he had exactly that, however, he couldn’t be all that sure it wasn’t worse than being on the outside looking in. 

The things that shouldn’t have made any difference to him actually bothered him the most. It was inside jokes that stung him, ones they had explained to him but he still couldn’t understand. It was the framed photograph they kept on the television set, the one of Albert and Race at sixteen, kissing Spot’s cheeks and Spot blushing despite obviously trying not to. 

Recently, he’d begun to notice the worst one of all. It was the compliments that made him the most jealous, and feel the most ostracized. 

-

“Spot,” Race giggled one day, “you know why I love you?”

“Is it because I’m handsome?” Spot threw a glance over his shoulder as he pushed crumbs into the sink. 

“Well, yeah. But it’s also because you take the time to do the things we don’t want to do.”

“What,” Spot pushed himself up so he could sit on the countertop. “Like clean the kitchen?”

Elmer watched from Albert’s arms as Race made his way over to Spot, but he averted his eyes before he could see Race grab Spot’s hips and kiss him. 

“Yeah, like that,” Race’s voice trilled through the apartment, so that everyone could hear what he said. “I really appreciate that you’re so selfless that you just do the things you know we hate, for no other reason than you know it’ll make us happy.”

Spot’s voice wavered as he spoke, the way it did when he wasn’t sure. “It’s worth it, if it makes you and Albert and Elmer smile. You know that.”

Elmer’s jaw dropped into a gaping smile. Albert pushed himself up to peer over the couch. 

“Awww, Spot,” Albert teased. “That’s so sweet!”

Spot blew a halfway sarcastic kiss towards the couch, and picked up his dishrag again. 

-

“Albert, babe?” Race asked on a different day, “You know why I love you?”

“No, why?” Albert’s pencil stayed constantly in motion as it scratched on the paper. 

Spot looked up from his chair on the other side of the bedroom. “Is it, maybe, because of how hard he works and how passionate he gets?”

Race’s face broke into a toothy smile. “Exactly!” he looked around at the two boys on the bed and the one in the chair. “Like, even about little things that I would think are silly, you care about those and you want to solve every puzzle. It’s awesome!”

Albert’s pencil stopped moving then. “Is this about my Bigfoot rant earlier? Because-”

 

“Yeah, kinda. It was cute!”

“It wasn’t cute,” Albert clicked his tongue on the ‘t’ sound. “That was serious! He’s out there, you guys!”

His quick shift from laid-back to indignance sent his boyfriends into outbursts of laughter, which only made him more annoyed. 

“Okay, okay,” Race held out his hands, and Elmer and Albert each took one of them. “But seriously, Al, I love how hard you work, ‘cause you throw yourself into everythin’ you do. That includes Bigfoot, and papers, and hangin’ out with us.”

Elmer could see Albert squeeze Race’s hand, but didn’t feel any squeeze on his own. 

-

Race was playing a video game, screaming at his screen and jolting his body around, when Spot, on the couch, spoke up. 

“Race, I love you,” Spot’s voice made Elmer look up from where he was reading a book. 

“Thanks,” Race’s eyes never moved from the television screen. “That’s a bit random.”

“No, it’s really not,” Albert said as he walked into the room and sat on the couch. “He was watchin’ you play and you were so into it and he realized that he’s head over heels for you. Happens to me every damn day.”

The game paused.

Race’s tongue poked through his teeth slightly as he smiled. “What do you mean?”

Elmer’s eyes flicked between each of the boys. 

“He means,” Spot rolled his eyes. “That you get so into stuff you do, and you just love to have fun, and watchin’ you do stuff reminds us of why we love you.”

Albert nodded vigorously, agreeing with everything Spot was saying. 

Race’s face turned a shade of pink, and the video game resumed. 

-

Everything Spot, Albert, and Race said about each other was true, and Elmer agreed with each word. But he couldn’t help but notice the way that compliments about him felt a little different. 

-

“Elmer,” Albert was holding Elmer in his lap, and brushed his fingers through Elmer’s hair. “You’re the cutest.”

He turned his head up, so he could look at Albert. His boyfriend grinned down at him before kissing him lightly on the nose. 

Race flew into the room, grinning stupidly. “Are we talking about how cute Elmer is?”

“Yeah,” Albert laughed. 

“Aw, that’s sweet. He really is the cutest, huh?”

Elmer’s blush deepened as Spot joined in, each of his boyfriends taking a moment out of their day to shower him with praise. In spite of that, the one thing he couldn’t shake was the shallowness of the compliments. Thinking back to when Race or Albert or Spot had received praise, he remembered how much those words had meant to each of them; they were all about personality or passions. This was about his face: something he had no control over. 

-

He should have been grateful to be a part of the relationship at all. Yet he couldn’t force himself to be happy with the situation in which he found himself. 

-

There, in Albert’s arms, it all seemed to crash over him. His throat closed up, and whatever blush remained on his face turned to heat from his blood simmering. Tears pierced his eyes, and he instinctively looked towards the ceiling to attempt blinking them away. 

“Elm, babe. Are you crying?” Albert looked down at him, and lightly brought a hand up to Elmer’s face. 

Race’s head turned almost 180 degrees, his blue eyes suddenly wide. 

“I-” Elmer laughed lowly, “yeah, I am.”

Race was at their sides in a second, one of his hands grabbing Elmer’s hand and the other reaching for Albert’s. 

“Honestly,” Elmer swallowed. “I don’t even know why I’m crying.”

Albert’s hand found its way into Elmer’s and he felt his boyfriend’s thumb run over the back of his hand. “Is something wrong?” Albert asked, and his chest vibrated noticeably against the back of Elmer’s head. 

“Yeah, what’s going on, El?” Race asked, squeezing Elmer’s hand and exchanging a worried glance with Albert. 

Spot appeared next to them before Race could pull his eyes back to Elmer’s. A gentle hand on Elmer’s knee and on the small of Race’s back was all it took to announce his presence. 

Elmer pried his hand away from Albert’s, and wiped tears away from his face. 

“I’m so sorry, you guys. This is pointless, I’m making a big deal out of nothing.”

Race’s eyes looked like they were on the verge of spilling tears themselves. “Elmer, babe. It’s okay to cry, you know.”

“If something’s bothering you, Elm, you can tell us.”

“Actually,” Spot broke his silence, “you should talk to us if something’s botherin’ you. That’s what we’re here for.”

Before he could stop it, a sob burst from Elmer’s chest.  
“I just j-joined this relationship so long after it started,” he hiccuped, “and I know it’s silly but you three were together for so long without me. You loved each other before you even th-thought about liking me,” he lowered his eyes. Seeing Race with tears on his face would be too much. His vision was blurred, but he almost thought Spot looked distraught too.  
“I know I shouldn’t, but sometimes I wonder why you even want me here at all. Why ask me to join you if you’re already happy?” He felt Race’s hand squeeze his own. “I can’t figure it out.”

Elmer gasped for air. “And I guess it feels, sometimes, like you still love each other more than you love me. The worst part is, I couldn’t blame you if you did. But I don’t think I could handle that, either.”

Albert’s chest heaved from behind Elmer; tears fell on Elmer’s arm, though he couldn’t tell whose they were. 

“Elmer, babe,” Race pulled Elmer’s hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.  
“Can you look at me?” He met Race’s gaze.  
“Okay, good. Now, can you think of a time I’ve ever lied to you? So believe me when I tell you this: there is a reason you’re in this relationship. And that reason is that we love you a lot,” Race smiled. 

Elmer felt a kiss on his forehead, and Albert began to add on to what Race had said.  
“It is true that we dated before we met you. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t love you. We wanted you here because we were missing somethin’. Thank goodness we realized it was you we needed, because you bring out the best parts of all of us.”  
Albert’s voice paused for a second, and Elmer thought he was finished until he said, “You are the best parts of all of us.”

“Yeah,” Spot nodded. “Trust me, if we thought you were just a cute guy, we wouldn’t have wanted you. After all, we already got two cute guys: Race and Albo,” Elmer chuckled as he felt his spirits rising.  
“But we saw tha’ you were a smile, a patch of blue sky where we just had clouds. I’v- we’ve never been happier than when we’ve been datin’ you. And when I think of the best version of my life, the one where I’m happy for the next, gah, sixty years, it’s with you. All three of you.”

Three pairs of eyes were on Spot’s face, but he didn’t see it. Spot’s eyes were squeezed tightly shut, a smile forcing its way onto his mouth. Elmer watched Spot open his eyes, and attempt in vain to blink back tears. 

“You really thought that? You really think that?” he asked, his chest gasping. 

“Yeah, of course,” Albert whispered. Race nodded, a fraction of a smile appearing. 

Elmer smiled, and pulled Albert’s arms tighter around himself. 

“Elmer, is there,” Spot tilted his head, “is there somethin’ we can do to make sure you ain’t gonna feel like this again?”

Elmer moved his left hand to rest it on top of Spot’s hand. “You know, there probably is. But right now that’s not what I care about. Right now, can you guys just kinda… hold me?”

“Yeah, yeah, we can do that,” Race grinned.  
Smiles spread across the faces of every boy as the other two climbed onto the couch, each grabbing one of Elmer’s hands. 

Of course, all of them fitting into one space: whether that was one relationship or one couch, would be difficult. But with giggles, laughter, and enough kisses to last an entire lifetime, they were prepared to make it work.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Remember to send me prompts @spot-and-all-his-cronies on tumblr!


End file.
